- Smart glasses are increasingly rented by Chinese students to cheat in exams discreetly
- Devices cost 40 to 80 yuan per day and are used to answer English and math questions
- Smart glasses have cameras and AI features that scan questions and display answers instantly
While smart glasses have gained popularity for hands-free tasks like recording video, taking pictures, translating signs, or reading presentation scripts, a new trend is emerging in China: exam cheating. A report from Futurism, citing Rest of World has found that Chinese students are increasingly renting these smart devices at cheap rates to pass exams without getting caught.
On Xianyu, a major secondhand Chinese marketplace, merchants are renting these smart glasses for as little as 40 to 80 yuan (Rs 542 to Rs 1,085) per day. One Shenzhen-based entrepreneur, Ke Changsi, claims to have rented devices like Rokid and Quark glasses to over 1,000 people in just four months. The smart glasses are being primarily used to answer English and math questions, Ke added.
One student, Vivian, explained that she uses her Rokid glasses to scan exam questions and view answers directly on the integrated screen. These glasses are equipped with cameras, audio features and powered by large language models (LLMs) that can answer exam questions with utmost ease.
Despite bans on smart glasses during exams, their discreet, conventional designs make them hard for invigilators to detect. As a result, students frequently wear them to cheat without being caught.
While Meta leads the market globally, domestic brands like Xiaomi, Alibaba and Li have also launched smart glasses models in recent years. Understanding the popularity of smart glasses, the Chinese government has included them in a national subsidy programme with an aim to spur consumption.
Meta Glasses Controversy
While smart glasses offer a range of uses, they are under fire for significant privacy gaps. Last month, an investigation report by Swedish newspapers Goteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet revealed that tech workers sitting in Nairobi, Kenya, were going through the footage that users may have captured through their Meta AI smart glasses.
Workers in Kenya claimed they had seen clips that appear to include people going to the toilet, taking off their clothes or having sex. People's bank cards were also visible by mistake in some footage, with workers pointing out that these clips could trigger “enormous scandals” if they were leaked.
